THE CRAZIES

Director: Breck Eisner
Stars: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabaker, Brett Rickaby, Lisa K. Wyatt, Justin Welborn, Justin Miles
Year: 2010
Rating: R

Some horror film buff I am; I didn't even know, at the time of seeing this film, that it was a remake of a 1973 Wes Craven film of the same name! Actually, though, that probably worked out to my advantage - 'cause when I sat down to watch The Crazies, I didn't even have an idea of the plot. All that had hooked me was the trailer, and the fact that Timothy Olyphant was starring. And that was enough.

So pre-conceived notions-free, I was actually able to enjoy the shocks and surprises of what The Crazies had to offer - and, in the end, really enjoyed the movie. Timothy Olyphant, too. I swear, that guy could do a feminine hygiene commercial, and I'd still watch; he brings a charisma and energy to the screen that few actors do today, and is one of this country's most-underrated actors (even WITH the success of "Justified").

Here Olyphant plays David Dutten, sheriff of Ogden Marsh, Iowa - a small farming community just far enough outside Cedar Rapids to have that peaceful, folksy feel that communities have where the people are always looking out for each other. David Dutten has a good life ... a beautiful wife named Judy, who also happens to be one of the town's best doctors (Radha Mitchell) ... and even a good-old-boy deputy, Russell Clank (Across the Universe's Joe Anderson, in perhaps the film's best performance), whom David also calls his friend.

But one day at the little league field, during a game, a local man comes marching across the field with a shotgun. Dutten and his deputy evacuate the field of its players, David trying to calm the local - Rory Hamill - who he thinks is back to drinking. Instead, Hamill raises his shotgun and points it straight at Dutten ... who has no choice, when Hamill starts pressing the trigger, but to shoot the man in self-defense. Hamill dies from the gunshot, and Dutten is left broken and angst-ridden with guilt; this is, after all, Ogden Marsh. Where everyone knows each other, and Dutten feels like he's just shot one of his own.

But it doesn't stop with Hamill. Soon after the incident, out on the outskirts of town, another citizen of Ogden Marsh burns his wife and son to death in their farmhouse - and is found by cops and firefighters at the scene, calmly mowing the lawn while the house (and his family) goes up in flames. Dazed to the point of almost seeming drugged, Dutten takes the man into custody that night - and the next day, when his call for county help goes unanswered ... and the internet goes down throughout the town ... and no cell phones or landlines work ... Dutten and Deputy Clank realize that something is very, very wrong in Ogden Marsh.

I thought, at first, that this was going to be another zombie movie. And indeed, while not a zombie movie, this is definitely a deadly-virus-makes-the-entire-town-go-whacko film. But thanks to the script, the action sequences (which lean to violent, and at times truly edge-of-the-seat-suspenseful - though the director stops just short of actual gore, leaving that nasty detail to the viewer's imagination), and the earnest performances of the lead actors, The Crazies is also a fairly terrific movie. Olyphant makes for a great lead, and as Dutten tries to hold the situation, those he loves, and even himself together in the middle of a town whose citizens - one on one - seem to be turning mad. "Chaos ensues" is a bold understatement, and even the intervention of the government/military, when they arrive, turns out (of course) to be anything BUT a good thing! But to reveal more about the plot would be to maybe say too much, so let me just say that The Crazies has everything you'd expect in a horror film - suspense, terror, violence, death, and at least a few "jump in your seat" moments - but never overdoes any of them, or even overstays its welcome. And as mentioned, just when you think you're going to get hit in the senses with blood and gore in the film, the director cleverly cuts away just before it happens - screwing with your mind by letting it put in the worst possible scenario itself, and in this case it really, REALLY works to make for a much more suspenseful film.

Watch for Justin Welborn - who, since Dance of the Dead, has been in enough of these kinds of films, he's practically a horror icon already - in a small role as Rory Hamill's distraught (and damned angry) son. But for excellent thrills and chills, without excessive bloody spills, The Crazies is a pretty awesome ride. **** - Reel Awesome